


The Force Shall Set Me Free

by hebravelyranaway



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Genre: Amnesia, Betrayal, Brain Damage, Gen, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Major Character Injury, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2014-05-14
Packaged: 2018-01-24 17:24:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1613213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hebravelyranaway/pseuds/hebravelyranaway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Darth Revan finally broke free of his chains, it was not in a way that he ever expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Force Shall Set Me Free

Disclaimer: Knights of the Old Republic and the Sith Code are the property of Lucas Arts and affiliates, and I am not making any money off of this story. 

The Dark Lord kept track of the battle behind him with the Force as he watched the more distant space battles through his view port. He felt men and women that had been with his crusade from the beginning join the Force, and he breathed in the pain and fear of their last moments like an intoxicating drug. Once he would have sacrificed his life for them; now, they were just sacrifices to a cause greater than all their ruined lives, even his.

_ Peace is a lie, there is only passion.  _

He would wait to turn his back on his former friend and apprentice for as long as possible. Absolute power was a fragile thing, and friendship, like trust, was one of the few luxuries the Dark Lord of the Sith could not afford.

Even a few months ago, Malak would have come to his aid in a heartbeat, but he had recently taken drastic measures to ensure his apprentice had a more complete understanding of Sith philosophy. Though war had already taught them both what a foolish weakness their compassion had been, it had taken a little more persuasion to get Malak to see their friendship as a weakness, too. The lesson had cost Malak his jaw and a good portion of his sanity. The Dark Lord was now completely alone, and would be for the rest of his life. He couldn’t afford to be any other way.

Revan tensed and turned around when he sensed that the last of his Dark Jedi was about to become one with the Force.

_ Through passion, I gain strength. _

The flash of a gold lightsaber was quickly followed by the thump of a body as it hit the deck, and a beautiful woman, little more than a girl, turned to face him, her eyes shining with determination and fear and anger–everything that a Jedi was supposed to deny. Revan let it feed his connection to the Dark Side, and the air around him began to shudder and spark with barely contained power.

“You cannot win, Revan!”

Her words shattered his dark thoughts into a million pieces, and somehow, all he could hear was the Padawan’s unnaturally mesmeric voice. Without warning, a boundless ocean of shame opened up inside him, ready to swallow him whole with the horror of what he had done. 

_ I can’t do this anymore. _

His mind simply froze for a moment, devoid of thought, devoid of feeling, unable to comprehend how far he had gone past the point of no return.

How could he have hurt Malak like that? How could he have betrayed everyone who had trusted him to lead them wisely when they had followed him to war? And all because he had not been strong enough to kill the perversions of life that were the True Sith. He had thought himself invincible after his victory over Mandalore, but he still hadn’t been strong enough to save—

He had to be strong now, or they would destroy everything he cared about. Soon, even the True Sith would be consumed by his mastery of the Dark Side.

_ Through strength, I gain power. _

Mentally shaking himself, his remorse gave way to rage as he realized that he had almost succumbed to Shan’s mind manipulation. He was far from weak minded, he knew, but Shan’s talent for altering the wills of others with the Force was just as strong as his, though in a different way. When he ‘convinced’ people to bend to his will, he tore their minds to shreds; listening to Shan’s suggestions was like drinking the wine of the gods: an irresistible temptation. 

He would rip her limb from limb if they got out of this, pluck out those enthralling, accusing eyes, cut out the tongue that had come so close to convincing him to doubt everything he had ever believed in. No one, not even someone who had that much tactical value, made a fool of the Dark Lord and lived to tell the tale. 

_ Through power, I gain victory. _

Revan would burn to death in the inferno his ship had become before he let the Jedi take him alive. He flourished his blade, bringing it into ready position over his shoulder and waiting for one of his opponents to come at him. 

Becoming lost in doubt for those few moments cost him everything, however. By the time he was completely focused on the battle instead of the Padawan’s words, it was too late to hear the warning in the Force, and he only had a half a second to comprehend the horror of his own mortality before his ship exploded behind him and he was consumed by pain and fire.

_ Through victory, my chains are broken. _

Two grey eyes gazed down at his broken body, wide with concern. 

“Stay,” whispered the strange, beautiful woman, and then she began to simply glow with the Light Side of the Force. Who knew death could be so beautiful?

_ The Force shall set me free. _

***

The Endar Spire’s newest ensign tossed and turned in his sleep, brought by his dreams to a place from another life. 

A whisper. 

“Bast…ila…” 

Outside the floor to ceiling windows of his room, two pilots, Jedi and Sith, were engaged in a vicious dogfight, each pulling their fighters into heart-wrenching maneuvers in a desperate attempt to survive their dance of death.

The Sith pilot wrenched his fighter in a different direction than the Republic pilot expected, and they collided in midair, going up in an explosion of light like a dying star.

“Malak!”

The ensign started from his dream at the concussive force of the explosion, his yellow eyes snapping open and darting around his room uncomprehendingly. He groaned, and cradled his head in his hands, still partially immersed in a half-remembered nightmare that was fading from his mind faster and faster with every second he was conscious. 

He blinked once, and when he opened his eyes again, they were blue.


End file.
